diogomanzarra Reviews

Likeness (2013)

Likeness is creepy, scary and thought-provoking - yet lacks some finesse

[27 January 2016]

In today's society, our own appearance is something very important. We constantly have the images of perfect, slim mannequins and guys with bodies chiseled as those of Greek gods shoved into our faces and in some people, it creates several complexes about oneself. Likeness is an effort to portray a girl with bulimia and her perception of the world.

I enjoyed this little film, but thought it could have been handled better. During the nine minutes of the film (three are dedicated to credits - not really a smart move) we see a bizarre and dark place, with people skinny to their bones and an eerie atmosphere. Later, a girl, Mia (Elle Fanning) enters the bathroom and experiences a breakdown due to her disorder.

The first thing that truly bugged me were the first three minutes. Mia is nowhere to be seen. It just takes too much time to get the story in motion. You only see the camera being driven around and the time is utterly wasted.

Second, another bad thing I noticed is how the portrayal of bulimia is so limited. We mostly only see Mia staring at herself in the mirror with terror, vomiting, and nothing much. I respect what the director tried to portray but I feel that he could've gone an extra mile.

But not all is bad in this film. The bathroom scene is one of the most gruesome I have ever seen. Never has a scene in a film made me twitch in my chair, gave me nausea and made me want to pause the video. It's just so depressing, gross, violent, self-loathing and really shows Mia's fragile mind state. I won't spoil it since I think you should experience it yourself.

Likeness is a decent film. It has great camera-work and soundtrack, which gave me goosebumps and made me feel like I was in a horror movie. The bathroom scene is utterly phenomenal and made me feel so many emotions at the same time. But it suffers from a bad time management and lack of depth. Definitely worth watching this thought-provoking short.

Ferocious (2013)

Ferocious is a great movie about the bad side of fame - don't trust the rating!

[4/10 · 13 December 2015]

I'm sure that, one time or another, we all have dreamed about being a big and famous star, with paparazzi snapping their cameras on us all day long, with your name written on the poster of big blockbusters or with a crowd of fans beseeching for your autograph. Seems nice, doesn't it? Ferocious delves into the life of a famous actress, Leigh Parrish, and after watching it I'm sure you'll get a different view on fame.

Ferocious is a movie that confused me at first. On one side, I saw a bunch of reviews praising it, however the contradicting IMDb rating was off-putting. But something captivated me in this movie, and I figured that the film was probably better than the unfitting 4.3 due to the good things said about it.

I wasn't disappointed. I'll keep spoilers to a minimum and only talk a bit about the beginning. Ferocious takes place mainly in one location, with a limited but adequate cast. Leigh Parrish is a likable small town girl, who became a famous actress. You can tell that something is wrong, because she appears to be just a simple girl who lives in a much darker world that she appears to.

Ferocious has a gripping starting scene. Leigh returns home from an interview and cancels the meeting with her parents she was supposed to have that evening. She takes off her dress and changes into a long coat and a hat to cover her visage. Then, she picks up a knife from her bed and slides it into her boot. Right off the bat, the movie raises a lot of questions and definitely hooked me in.

Leigh then heads to Shakers, a night club that is currently closed but scheduled for re-opening soon. Shakers is the main location of the movie that I mentioned earlier, and in my opinion it's a perfect choice for a setting. Expect dimly-lit rooms and tight-quarter sequences, which fit the story perfectly and usually rank up the pressure and the tension.

The actors are rather good. Amanda Crew's acting, along with the rest of the cast, aren't ground- breaking, but are good enough that the film remains credible. Michael Eklund however, just like almost all of his performances, really does the home-run with his portrayal of Eric, the freaky and quirky bartender and also Leigh's hurt ex-boyfriend.

Not everything is positive though. A few plot points got me face-palming myself repeatedly, and truly got me wondering what the heck the writers were thinking. The characters also could have gotten a bit more development. Leigh, Tess and Eric were fleshed out enough, but Sal didn't feel three-dimensional beyond his layers of evil, and Callum is just the typical manager, and never changes beyond that. Not to mention that Tess really breaks her character towards the end.

In the end, you'll be left with an empty sensation inside. Leigh does some horrible things to protect her fame, but as the screen fades to black you'll ask yourself: "Was it worth it?" Ferocious is an flawed and heavily underrated movie, that despite its mistakes has an intriguing story with a good starting sequence, decent performances and a powerful ending. Don't believe me? Check out the fellow reviews and all the nominations this movie got. And after the film is over, remind yourself that fame isn't always a good thing. It can change the person you are and make you ferocious.